LARAMIE, Wyo. (March 8, 2014) – Senior guard Nathan Sobey posted a career-high 33 points and sophomore guard Josh Adams added 22 to help the University of Wyoming men’s basketball team close the regular season with a 83-75 victory over Colorado State on Saturday afternoon in the Arena-Auditorium. The Cowboys (18-13, 9-9 MW) finished .500 or better for the first time in Mountain West play since going 7-7 in 2004-05.

“Nate [Sobey] was terrific,” UW head coach Larry Shyatt said. “Reluctantly, we had to pull him out a couple times and he had to pull himself out to get a breather because he was exhausted. Good job by our assistant coaching staff because they got him out just long enough so that he had his legs late in the game. He made a couple big finishes and hit his free throws down the stretch.”

Wyoming quickly built an 18-point lead early in the second half, but the Rams (16-15, 7-11 MW) came roaring back with a 16-3 run that included four threes. CSU couldn’t quite managed a lead, though, as it kept UW’s advantage around two possessions most of the second half. The Rams clawed within two points twice with six minutes remaining, but Sobey converted a three-point play to start a 10-2 Cowboy spurt that put the Pokes back in control at 74-64 with three minutes left. Sobey and Adams would make free throw downs the stretch to ice the game, as a Sobey dunk with 30 seconds to go put the exclamation point on the Border War victory.

“They all were contributors in different ways,” Shyatt said. “Some were in for just a breather. Some were in for foul trouble. Some were in for ball-handling. I just looked at the box score and what jumps out to me is our three point guards – [Jack] Bentz, [Riley] Grabau and [Josh] Adams -- combined for 13 assists and zero turnovers. That’s a credible job against the speed and athleticsm of all these transfers that CSU has.”

Sobey’s night came courtesy of a career highs of 11 field goals and four threes, while he added three assists and four rebounds. His 33 points were the 11th-most in Arena-Auditorium history. Adams topped the 20-point mark for a third-straight game and also had eight rebounds and seven assists. He has averaged 24 points over the last three contests. Junior forward Derek Cooke Jr. finished one point shy of a career high with 14, while junior guard Jack Bentz tied a career high with four assists in a career-high 22 minutes of action.

Wyoming connected on 50 percent (28-of-56) from the field for its 14th game this season at 50 percent or better, while adding 38 percent (8-of-21) beyond the arc. The Rams hit 36 percent (20-of-56) and 37 percent (8-of-22), respectively. CSU earned a 39-31 advantage on the boards, but trailed 18-8 in assists. Wyoming committed eight turnovers for its sixth-straight game with less than 10. UW’s Both teams committed 28 fouls.

The Cowboys controlled much of the first half, but never made a dominant run. The Cowboys held a single-digit lead through the first nine minutes, before extending it to as much as 17 points with three minutes left in the half. Sobey had 19 in the opening half, as Wyoming shot 50 percent (15-of-30) from the field for 44 points, its most in MW play. The Pokes hit on 6-of-15 threes (40 percent), while holding CSU to 24 percent (6-of-25) from the field and just one three on seven attempts (14 percent). Wyoming trailed 19-17 on the boards, but led 8-1 in assists and 9-2 in points off turnovers.

Wyoming plays at the 2014 Mountain West Championships next week in Las Vegas. Its opponent will be determined later tonight.

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